The name “Kuzma”
Over the
years in my family I kept on hearing this random name of Kuzma. I never really
looked into the name, like who the man was or what his story was. I just kept on hearing the name in family
conversations and never tried to place the connection of the name to my
family. After I married my wife and she became
a part of those same circles, she noticed the name, too. Kuzma…It has a unique
ring to it, doesn’t it?
Facebook is
an amazing tool in connecting family together. I have been connecting with
distant relatives recently and it’s been fun connecting the pieces
together. One of these puzzle pieces is
Sanja Valjin from Zadar, Croatia. We
started messaging one another back in February. We started putting the puzzle
pieces together over emails. I made a family tree online while talking with my
dad over the phone. I sent Sanja the
link, she talked to her mother and we found how our trees touched branches. We were connected through “Kuzma” Mirkovich.
Sanja’s Grandfather’s brother is Kuzma, who married my Grandfather’s
sister, Mary. Her Grandfather’s other
brother married my Grandfather’s other sister.
You need a family tree picture now, don’t you? They are all from the village
of Veli Rat on the island of Dugi Otok in Croatia.
So Sanja
and I stayed in contact over the next couple of months leading up to our
departure to Croatia. We decided that we should make an effort to connect our
vacations together in Veli Rat. She has
a family house there and we rented an apartment across the bay.
Before we met
I was practicing introductions in my Croatian language lesson. So I was prepping what I would say when we
finally met in person. As her and her family came up to Katie and I at the Café,
my mind went blank and English came out my mouth. I was disappointed in myself but Sanja and
her husband Davor spoke perfect English and made us feel at ease. We talked about our blog, how we are related,
when her family left the island, my families house on the island, our jobs, their
jobs, and Apple products. It was great
fun getting to know our new friends.
Later we walked
to their family’s house, which was about 50 meters away and met Sanja’s mother
and grandmother. They welcomed us into their house. We saw pictures of their
family on their wall and noticed a familiar face. It was a picture of Phyllis, another mutual
family member who lives in the bay area. Phyllis is actually related to me by
blood. That was a highlight of my day and made the connection with our two
families very real. I just kept on saying “No way… No way… that’s Phyllis!”
We later took a walk to the family/community well,
my great grandfather’s house,
All of it was just amazing to me. I tried to picture this village the way it
once was. With no electricity, no running water, and 16 people packed into one
house. What it took to provide for your
own family: fishing, gathering, farming, and harvesting. What did they trade
for goods? What did they do in droughts?
When was it just too difficult to bare? When did they want to leave?
What was it like when they heard about America for the first time? Who told
them about America? What was that
thought process like… Was it spontaneous? Was it rushed? Did they save every dime for the trip? Had they planned it out for years?
I
correlated it to our decision to move to Zagreb. All the thoughts I had to work through to take
that jump. I think we were in two different shoes. Their story made my shoes
look smaller and my jump shorter. I’m a 20 minute cab ride and a swipe of a
credit card to fly back home to America.
They didn’t have the same luxury. Their decision was so much greater
then mine. Honestly I needed that
comparison. It humbled me and moved me to a stronger place and peace of
mind.
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